VIDEO: Whale's tail was no tale

A young Canadian woman on a whale-watching boat off Mexico had a close encounter with nature in the form of a slap in the face.

Chelsea Crawford, 20, of Nova Scotia, told CTV News she came away with a slight bruise on her shoulder when one of several gray whales near the boat rolled and brought a massive fin against the side of her face.

The assault was captured on video and posted to YouTube Feb. 23, quickly going viral at 2 million-plus views and counting as of Friday afternoon.

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Crawford said she was terrified at the time but can laugh about it now.

The friends were in Emiliano Zapata, Mexico, building homes and doing humanitarian work with the Canadian charity Live Different. They arrived at the beginning of February and will remain in Mexico until the end of May.